Rate Leading Long-Term CDs at Wings Financial Credit Union

It has been more than four years since my last post on Wings Financial Credit Union (Wings Financial). During that time, Wings Financial’s Certificate rates haven’t been high enough to be blog worthy. That has changed as rates at other banks and credit unions have fallen to all-time lows. Wings Financial’s Certificates with 3-, 4- and 5-year terms are currently rate leaders or near the rate leaders for nationally-available CDs.

Another thing that has changed in the last four years is the addition of a super jumbo tier that requires a minimum deposit of $250k. The minimum deposit requirements for the lower tiers are $100k, $10k and $500. Currently, the rate goes up by 5 basis points for each increasing tier balance.

The 5-year Share Certificate is also available as an IRA (Traditional, Roth, and CESA), with the same rate tiers and minimum deposit requirements.

Unfortunately, these long-term Certificates have a harsh Early Withdrawal Penalty. As stated on Wings Financial’s FAQ, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

Term less than 24 months = Loss of amount equivalent to 6 months’ dividends (180 days)

Term 24 months or greater = Loss of amount equivalent 2 years’ dividends (730 days)

Other Noteworthy Deposit Products

High Yield Savings Account

In today’s environment, even the high yield savings accounts at online banks shouldn’t be called high yield. Most all now have rates under 1%. That’s no different than Wings Financial’s High Yield Savings Account. Even though you may not consider the rates of the Wings Financial High Yield Savings Accounts as “high”, they are currently competitive with the rates of savings accounts of the online banks for large balances. Like the CDs, the maximum balance tier is $250k. The rate goes down significantly for the smaller tiers.

Like most savings accounts at online banks, Wings Financial High Yield Savings Account has no minimum balance required to open, and it has no minimum balance required to avoid a monthly fee.

High-Yield Checking Account

Another noteworthy deposit product is a reward checking account (RCA) called High-Yield Checking. It’s rare for large institutions to offer an RCA. The only other large credit union (with $6+ billion in assets) with a noteworthy RCA is Lake Michigan Credit Union. The High-Yield Checking Account doesn’t have the best RCA rate, but if the current rate and balance cap can hold in this ultra-low rate environment, it will still be a good deal.

The monthly requirements to earn the top rate are as follows:

• You must have $300 in direct deposit
• You must be enrolled in eDocuments
• You must make at least 15 debit card transactions each month.

I’ll have more details on the High-Yield Checking Account in a future post.

Availability

Headquartered in Apple Valley, Minnesota, Wings Financial Credit Union’s field of membership includes virtually anyone:

Easy Membership: As stated on Wings Financial’s online application, “I would like to become a member of Wings Financial Credit Union by making a donation of at least $5 to the Wings Financial Foundation."

Residency: In the last four years, Wings Financial has expanded its geographical eligibility to include parts of Georgia, Michigan and Florida.

Anyone who lives or works in the following regions is eligible to become a member:

• one of several eligible Minnesota or Wisconsin counties
• Seattle-Tacoma, WA metro area
• Detroit, MI metro area
• Orlando, FL metro area
• Atlanta, GA metro area

Employment: Individuals who work or have worked in the aviation industry nationwide qualify for membership.

Relationship: Immediate family members of current Wing Financial members are eligible to join.

Joining Wings Financial and opening a Share Certificate can be done online or at any of 28 branches located in Florida, Georgia, Michigan (2), Minnesota (23), and Washington.

Credit Union Overview

Wings Financial Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 68601) has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 2.55% (excellent) based on June 30, 2020 data. In the past year, Wings Financial has increased its total deposits by $711 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 16.4%. Please refer to our financial overview of Wings Financial Credit Union for more details.

Wings Financial Credit Union was originally founded in 1938 as Northwest Airlines Credit Union by seven airline employees. In the past ten years, Wings Financial has done multiple acquisitions. The latest acquisition announcement was in February when an agreement was reached with Neighborhood National Bank to acquire the bank and its six Minnesota branches. The acquisition was expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

Wings Financial has grown to be the nation’s 34th largest credit union, with over 295,000 members and assets in excess of $6.1 billion.

How the 5-Year Certificate Compares

When compared to the 197 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide, Wings Financial Credit Union's 5-year Share Certificate currently ranks second, regardless of minimum deposit. Note, Barksdale FCU’s CDs are available nationwide, but membership into Barksdale FCU is primarily limited to those with a military connection.

The above rates are accurate as of 9/18/2020.

To search for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.